Mors Principium Est from Finland have just released their fourth album “….And Death Said Live”. To ask about the new album and the direction the technically-inspired melodic death/thrash metal band is taking, Andrew Doherty interviewed vocalist Ville Viljanen.
AN: Hi there. Thanks for agreeing to this interview. It’s been 5 years since the release of your previous album “Liberation = Termination”. Has “…And Death Said Live” been 5 years undergoing the creative process or have you just been doing other things?
VV: Howdy hoo!
Yeah, it’s been too long since our last album, but we have a good reason for that.
No, we did not write “…and Death said Live” for 5 years. It was done in about a year.
The reason why it took nearly 6 years is because we went through many line-up changes.
We had A LOT of problems with our guitar players.
We just did not find the right ones to play and to write new stuff, before we found Andy and Andhe.
AN: I’ve followed your band since the first album “Inhumanity”, having seen an advertisement for it. Before I come onto the latest work, I’d like to ask you about “Inhumanity”. I bought it because it sounded interesting and finished up being so obsessed with it that I’d wake up in the night with riffs from it going through my head. I later read in an interview, I think in a French magazine, that you didn’t really like it. Is that right? Recognising that you changed your style from “The Unborn”, what did you take forward from “Inhumanity”?
VV: Well yeah, it is true. We did, and do not like that album (Inhumanity) that much.
It is so boring and simple.
Maybe because we used to play those songs for years before we recorded them.
But even today if I listen to “Inhumanity” I do not enjoy it that much, but to be honest, I do not enjoy any of our old albums anymore
There is some good stuff, but I just don’t want to listen to them any more.
I would not even want to play those songs any more, but there are people who still want to hear those songs, so of course we will still play some older songs.
AN: One of my favourite tracks of yours is “Sinner’s Defeat” on the “Liberation = Termination” album. Following a break on that track, there’s an ominous build-up like a pressure cooker which always makes me want to punch a wall when it finally bursts out. In the creation of your music, are you constantly looking for big, explosive moments or do these moments just come with natural energy?
VV: Actually that is also my favourite song from our old albums.
I think those parts just happen, meaning we don’t think that “now we have to write this kind of part”. So yeah, I could say they just come with natural energy.
AN: The track off the new album which seems to be doing the rounds is “Destroyer of All”. It has all the qualities I associate you: an irrepressible riff, melody, hooks, technical flourishes and straight line aggression and anger. How do you set about composing a song like this?
VV: Andy is the one who wrote 9 songs from 11, so I don’t know how he does it.
I just gave him some instructions about what we want and told him that we still want to sound like MPE.
AN: It strikes me that your overall sound is deeper on “…And Death Said Live” than on previous albums. “Bringer of Light” for instance operates to a controlled tempo instead of heading off frantically into new territory. How did you perceive the level of depth and control, and overall ambiance when creating “…And Death Said Live”?
VV: Again, Andy wrote the songs.
We did not discuss that we want to sound deeper or darker on this album, it just happened.
AN: On “…And Death Said Live“, there is less use of programming and samples than on “Liberation = Termination”. “Birth of the Starchild” is the only track on the new album where you break out of the mould in this way. Is this a deliberate case of “less is more” or just a result of the fact that you haven’t got a regular keyboard player?
VV: Well, we did not decide that there will be less “keyboards” on this album.
There could have been even more stuff, if we would have written more “keyboard” stuff
This time we just wrote this amount of “keyboards”. It had nothing to do with the fact that we do not have a keyboard player.
I would say only one thing was planned from the beginning and that was that there would be no clean vocals on this album.
AN: As well as the reduction of samples, there’s also less of the instrumentals that we get on the two previous albums. Is the fact that you’re not looking to mix things up so much a change of concept on your part?
VV: The reason why there are two instrumental tracks on both of the previous two albums, is because we did not have enough songs with lyrics and we still needed more songs for the album, so …
This time we really wanted to write one instrumental song.
AN: A characteristic of all your work is that it’s always full of excitement, adrenaline and aggression. How do you ensure the anger and energy level stays constant when you enter the studio to record your albums?
VV: We fight constantly! hah hah haa
Naah, I dont know, it just happens.
AN: You seem to have an aptitude for delivering chilling and memorable lyrics. “Suffering begins tonight” on “Sinner’s Defeat” and “I shall never forgive you for the things you made me do” on “Departure” immediately come to my mind. Do these lines come to you in daily life and you take them into the studio with you, or does it work in some other way?
VV: Dude, they are just lyrics!
We need to write something and sometimes I write that kind of stuff.
I don’t think that “I will write about this or this” when I start to write.
Usually it goes that I get some line or idea when I listen to the music and then I do the rest of the lyrics based on that first idea that I have. Sometimes it does not work like that, for example, I may get some idea for one part on the song, but then I don’t come up with anything else, so then I will have to change the original idea.
AN: I sense on tracks like “Departure” that unlike some other bands, whose lyrics can be banal, it’s as if you’re telling a story. Is this what you set out to do?
VV: Sometimes.
But yeah, especially on this album there usually is some kind of story behind the lyrics.
On “Departure” the story is about a sex experiment gone wrong.
AN: What’s the dynamic between band members? Do you all come from different directions musically?
VV: In a way yeah, we all have our favourite bands etc, but then there is also these bands that we all like.
But as musicians and song writers, I think we all are a bit different.
So I think we are lucky that we all get along.
AN: You’ve been around as a band since 1999 and have developed a certain technical style of playing. When you recruit a new band member, what qualities are you looking for?
VV: Well, you need to know how to play and need to know how to write music the way MPE does. Basically that’s it.
AN: I can feel some musical similarities with Norther, Kalmah and Children of Bodom too, but also big differences in technique. Are you conscious of being part of a Finnish school of melodic thrash metal, or however you would want to define your style?
VV: I would just say we are a melodic death metal band.
We do not see that many similarities with Norther or the other bands you mentioned.
I think it is just the fact that we come from Finland (also, 2 members are not from Finland).
If we would be from Sweden, I’m sure you would find similarities with Dark Tranquillity etc.
Actually, I would say that we sound more Swedish band than a Finnish band.
AN: What music were you brought up to and what do you like to listen to now?
VV: Well, when I was a kid I used to listen to bands like Dio and Judas Priest.
When I got a bit older, I listened to bands like Metallica, Megadeth and Helloween.
Now I listen to all kinds of music. I basically don’t care what kind of music it is.
If I like it, that’s all I care about.
But, if I need to mention some bands, I could say Hypocrisy, Megadeth and The Black Dahlia Murder.
AN: What’s your greatest achievement as a band so far?
VV: Signing our first recording deal!!
That was an easy question.
AN: “… And Death Said Live” has been released on AFM Records, who have an impressive portfolio of bands. How did this collaboration come about?
VV: Well, I contacted a lot of various labels and AFM was one of the labels that were interested and we felt that AFM would be the best choice for MPE. So, nothing special.
AN: What immediate plans do you have to promote “…And Death Said Live” and your band in general?
VV: Immediate we have no plans, but we will start touring at summer.
Couple of festival gigs in Finland have been confirmed and a Japan tour, but also a European tour is starting to look pretty good.
AN: I’ve read that you have a fan base in the Far East and Australia. How do you reach out to fans out there?
VV: The same way we reach out everywhere.
Basically via the internet, but now we finally have the chance to go play six shows in Japan, so that’s really cool. Maybe someday we will also get to play in Australia.
AN: Have you ever toured outside of Finland? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t remember seeing Mors Principium Est on any bill before in mainland Europe or the UK. Do you have the intention and interest to have a tour over here?
VV: We have not toured at all. Well, we had one small Finnish tour at 2003, but nothing after that.
We have played outside of Finland, but have not toured.
Like I already mentioned, we will most likely have a European tour next autumn.
AN: Looking beyond “…and Death Said Live”, do you have any ideas about the projects you want to develop and direction you want to take as a band?
VV: Nope, not at the moment.
AN: To finish, I invite you to promote Mors Principium Est! Is there anything you would like to say to readers of Ave Noctum ?
VV: Please, go check out our music, especially our new music and if you like it, buy the CD. That will help us to get more tours and gigs.
Thanks very much! As I said at the beginning, I’ve been a big fan of your work for a while now and greatly enjoy the adrenaline-pumping technical metal that you play. So I very much appreciate hearing your side of the story and hope others will too. Good luck with the promotion of the new album and I look forward to seeing you somewhere soon!
Interview by Andrew Doherty
http://www.morsprincipiumest.com
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